Description

The foremost function of the state is to provide for the security and well-being of its people. The pursuit of security involves governments in a wide range of both domestic and international activities—political, economic, and military. How do governments promote national security? What challenges to they face, and what tools have they developed to meet those challenges? How secure can states expect to be in the modern world, and at what cost?

The course explores these and other questions related to national and international security policy in contemporary world politics. We examine the role of national power, strategy, and the use of military force; the workings of the American national security establishment, including the intelligence community; cooperative security systems like NATO and the United Nations; and the tradeoffs between homeland security and civil liberties. On all these topics, the course will emphasize both theoretical and practical issues.

Learning Objectives

The general objective of this course is to develop the student's capacity to critically examine problems in national and international security, consider the range of possible solutions to those problems, and communicate this analysis to others. This is to be accomplished by exposing students to relevant literature from the fields of international politics and foreign policy. By the end of the term, students should be able to:

• show a familiarity with a wide range of substantive issues in security studies;
• articulate normative positions on a key ethical dilemmas arising from the quest for national security; and
• design and execute a research project on some security-related problem, and communicate the findings to others.
   

Requirements and Evaluation

Readings

There are no required textbooks for this course. All assigned readings are available online (click the "pdf" link). In addition to the assigned readings, you should be reading, on a regular basis, the New York Times, the Washington Post, or some other newspaper with thorough international coverage. Your performance in the course will reflect your familiarity with current national security issues, and not just an understanding of lecture material and course readings.

CLASS SCHEDULE

• J. Mohan Malik, "The Evolution of Strategic Thought," in Contemporary Security and Strategy, ed. Craig A. Snyder (Routledge, 1997). (pdf)
• John Lewis Gaddis, Surprise, Security, and the American Experience (Yale University Press, 2004), chaps. 3-4. (pdf).
• slides

• Sam C. Sarkesian, John Allen Williams, and Stephen J. Cimbala, U.S. National Security: Policymakers, Processes, and Politics, third ed. (Lynne Rienner, 2002), chaps. 5-8. (pdf)
• William Michael Treanor, "The War Powers outside the Courts," in The Constitution in Wartime: Beyond Alarmism and Complacency, ed. Mark Tushnet (Duke University Press, 2005). (pdf)
• slides

• Abram N. Shulsky and Gary J. Schmitt, Silent Warfare: Understanding the World of Intelligence, third ed. (Brassey's, 2002), chaps. 2-4. (pdf)
• Clive Thompson, "Open-Source Spying," New York Times Magazine, 3 December 2006. (pdf)
• "Review of Jet Bomb Plot Shows More Missed Clues," New York Times, 18 January 2010. (pdf)
• slides

• William H. Rehnquist, All the Laws But One: Civil Liberties in Wartime (Vintage, 1998), chaps. 2, 7, 9-10, 14-18. (pdf)
• Michael Ignatieff, The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror (Princeton University Press, 2004), chaps. 1-2. (pdf)
• slides

• George Packer, "Knowing the Enemy: Can Social Scientists Redefine the 'War on Terror'?" The New Yorker, 18 December 2006. (pdf)
• James H. Lebovic, Deterring International Terrorism and Rogue States: U.S. National Security Policy after 9/11 (Routledge, 2007), chaps. 5-6. (pdf)
• Alan M. Dershowitz, Why Terrorism Works: Understanding the Threat, Responding to the Challenge (Yale University Press, 2002), chap. 4. (pdf)
• Peter Baker, "Obama's War Over Terror," New York Times Magazine, 17 January 2010. (pdf)
• in class: The Battle of Algiers (1966)
• slides

• John Yoo, The Powers of War and Peace: The Constitution and Foreign Affairs after 9/11 (University of Chicago Press, 2005), chaps. 5-6. (pdf)
• John F. Murphy, The United States and the Rule of Law in International Affairs (Cambridge University Press, 2004), chap. 4. (pdf).

• Stephen Biddle, Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle (Princeton University Press, 2004), chaps. 3-4, 7. (pdf)

• Ivan Arreguín-Toft, "How the Weak Win Wars: A Theory of Asymmetric Conflict," International Security, vol. 26, no. 1 (2001), pp. 93-128. (pdf)
   

• David A. Lake, "Beyond Anarchy: The Importance of Security Institutions," International Security, vol. 26, no. 1 (2001), pp. 129-160. (pdf)
• Robert Kagan, “Power and Weakness,” Policy Review, no. 113 (2002). (pdf)

• R. T. Naylor, Wages of Crime: Black Markets, Illegal Finance, and the Underworld Economy (Cornell University Press, 2002), chaps. 2-3. (pdf)
• P. W. Singer, "Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry and Its Ramifications for International Security," International Security, vol. 26, no. 3 (2001/2002), pp. 186-220. (pdf)
• presentations